Aircraft problem leaves German minister stuck in Abu Dhabi, latest in series of government plane issues

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Germany’s foreign minister was stuck in Abu Dhabi on Monday after a technical problem on her government plane — the latest in a succession of such incidents — forced it to return to the airport rather than continue to Australia.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was due to arrive in Canberra on Monday night at the start of a visit to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. But her German air force Airbus A340 had to return to Abu Dhabi after a refueling stop because of “a mechanical problem with the landing flaps,” ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The pilot noticed the problem minutes after the plane took off from Abu Dhabi, and the plane landed again safely two hours later after dumping some 80 tons of fuel, German news agency dpa reported.

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Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock makes statements during a meeting in Oslo, Norway, on June 1, 2023.  (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

The German air force posted on X that it was “working at high pressure” to make it possible for the delegation to continue its journey.

It was the latest in a string of problems with Germany’s government planes, some of which are aging, that have affected various senior officials. In May, Baerbock had to extend a trip to the Persian Gulf region by a day because of a damaged tire on an aircraft when she was in Qatar.

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The plane Baerbock was using for her flight to Australia was involved in a 2018 incident that resulted in then-Chancellor Angela Merkel and then-Finance Minister Olaf Scholz making a delayed departure to a Group of 20 summit in Argentina on a commercial flight.

In that case, an electrical distributor box failed, affecting the radio system and a fuel system and meaning that the aircraft couldn’t dump fuel. It turned back and landed at Cologne-Bonn airport with most of the fuel for the planned trans-Atlantic flight on board.

The government has since ordered three new A350 jets, two of which are already in service.